A Friend in Need
by Cow With A Pen
Summary: While doing some luxury shopping on Illium, Shepard and Tali run into a lonely quarian in need of companionship and a place to crash for the night. Of course, when they get back to their apartment, the woman suggests something far more interesting than sleeping. Rated M for a reason.


**AN:** Yay, even _more_ smut! Another Tali/Shepard story with an extra quarian added in because, well, why not?

Credit goes to CobaltAC for the prompt—you can go check out his sexy stories too. They're really awesome.

* * *

"You realise that weapon upgrades aren't a necessity anymore, right?" Shepard asked his wife, amused.

She gave him a look. "I know that. But..." She trailed off and stared longingly at the shotgun display in the storefront window they stood by. "Look at it."

His lips twitched. Although Tali was a firm believer in not buying anything she didn't need, she had a weak spot for the Wraith he'd given her during the War, and always wanted to make sure it was up to date with the latest equipment and attachments.

He opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped his smartass comment with another look. "You didn't hear me complaining when you wanted to buy all of those stupid model ships."

"That was just to waste Cerberus' money on the ridiculous cabin they built on the Normandy," he protested. "I didn't actually _want_ them."

It was her turn to grin. "Whatever you say."

"If you just stay at my place, you won't need that—"

"Yes I do. I'm not going to live in your apartment forever."

They both turned away from the store window to see a turian and quarian arguing right in front of the weapon shop's front entrance. The quarian woman was clad in a green envirosuit, minus the mask, and the turian was wearing drab civvies.

"I've got enough money for it. I'm buying one." the quarian said with conviction, and the turian backed down. "I'll only be ten minutes."

"Alright," the turian sighed. "I'll be at the cafe over there while you shop." With that the man turned and headed for the small coffee shop across from the storefront, and the quarian pushed through the front doors of the weapon store.

Shepard looked down at his wife, brow raised. "Shall we, now that the show's over?" He motioned towards the doors.

She just rolled her eyes.

* * *

The store was a lot larger than the front hinted at, and Tali stared in awe at the sight of the wall-to-wall shotgun upgrades. Although they'd only come to Illium to buy new furniture for their home, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to modify her precious weapon. She saw in her periphery that her husband was browsing the other sections of the large store, leaning towards sniper rifles rather than close range weapons.

"Hey, you're Tali'Zorah, aren't you?" an accented voice asked behind her, breaking her away from her thoughts. Tali turned to see the quarian her and Shepard had seen earlier standing there, face alight with interest.

"Er, yes," she answered the woman, not knowing what else to say.

The quarian nodded. "Thought you looked familiar. You're married to Commander Shepard, right?"

Tali nodded, mentally sighing. Although their fame sometimes came in handy, she was still getting used to the fact that strangers enjoyed asking her about her personal life.

The woman's mouth twisted, looking down at the weapon in her hands. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could tell me which pistol to buy. Some asshole broke into my apartment the other night and I want a gun in case something happens again."

Tali looked down at the Carnifex the quarian was holding, glad they were now talking about weapons. She's never gotten the art of small talk down when it came to chatting about herself; practical things like guns and repairs were far easier to talk about.

"That will probably break your arm if you fire it," Tali said amusedly. "Human weapons have more kick to them than quarian ones. I'd buy either a light handgun or an arc pistol, but those are better for geth. Which ah, shouldn't be a threat any more."

"Okay, cool. Thanks." The quarian woman said courteously, looking like she wanted to keep chatting. Her eyes darted over to Shepard again, and Tali prepared herself for more personal questions. Quarians tended to be a lot more forward in social situations, opting for directness rather than delicate conversation—there was little time in the fleet for prolonged innuendo and beating around the bush. And although her race now lived on Rannoch, they seemed keen on preserving their blunt approach to casual conversation. And Tali hated it.

"What's it like being married to Shepard?" The woman asked, eyes sparking with interest as she gazed at her husband. "I've heard a lot about him."

"It's pretty nice," Tali said quickly, hoping he'd come over and ask to head out soon.

The woman frowned at the vague answer. "That's all? Lots of women want to date that guy, and you've got him wrapped around your finger. He must be pretty great if you put up with him being human."

Tali felt a touch of anger. She sometimes forgot that her own people could be racist too. "What's the matter with him being human?" she asked, a little defensively.

The quarian shrugged, unfazed by Tali's tone. "I don't know. They aren't bad or anything, but I've dated a few before and they've all been jackasses. They never seemed to get the whole weak immune system thing and the sex wasn't all that great."

Tali's face heated. "Well, er, he's... considerate. About my immune system, I mean." _Please, please don't ask me what I think you're going to—_

"He good in bed?" the quarian asked her, lowering her voice. Tali might be able to get away with not answering the question if it'd come from another race, but it wasn't frowned upon to ask for intimate details in quarian society. _Unfortunately._

"Ah, well... er, yes. I-I guess."

"You guess?" the woman pressed.

"Yes, he's fantastic," Tali snapped, hoping that would satisfy the woman. It wasn't exactly a lie, but she'd rather not discuss her sexual habits with the nosy woman. Tali was only just getting comfortable with Kasumi grilling her for details.

The quarian arched a brow, the answer piquing her interest. "Really? How—"

"You ready to go?" She heard Shepard's voice ask to her right, and she resisted the urge to start dancing. She was saved.

"Y-yes, let's go." She snatched up the nearest shotgun attachment from the wall and gestured for her husband to lead the way.

He eyed the equipment in her hands. "You already have that one."

She glared at him and opened her mouth to protest, but the quarian woman cut her off with a laugh. "She just doesn't want to talk about sex."

Shepard raised a brow. "Indeed?" Her husband suddenly seemed interested in staying. She stared daggers back at him. The bastard was too social for his own good.

The quarian woman nodded. "Yeah. Asked her about her sex life and she suddenly clammed up."

"And what is your sex life like, Tali?" Shepard asked, playing along and grinning ear-to-ear.

"Non-existent if you keep talking," she growled at him. "Let's go."

He cleared his throat, smoothing his features over as best he could, but his lips still twitched furiously. "Lead the way," Shepard motioned past him, and she glared at him.

"Nice chatting with you," she shot over her shoulder politely, and the woman grinned at her.

"A pleasure," she replied, waving at them as they walked away. "Thanks for the advice!"

Shepard looked down at the upgrade in his wife's hands. "You buying that?"

"I already have one," she muttered, placing it on a random shelf and heading quickly out of the door.

* * *

They still hadn't bought any furniture.

After their exodus from the gun store, Tali wasn't in the mood for more shopping and potentially running into another nosy person who asked her too many questions.

They had instead lounged around the rather expensive apartment they'd rented while staying on Illium. Shepard had delicately suggested they engage in activities of a more carnal nature to pass the time, but she couldn't get the image of the quarian asking her about her love life, and it was currently destroying her libido with floods of embarrassment.

Which brought them to the bar they now sat in. She had her second drink in hand and watching Shepard sip on his third beer. They had miraculously not been bothered all that much by patrons, who were all too busy flirting with strangers or sticking their nose into their glasses. She hoped it stayed that way.

The alcohol in her hand burned pleasantly in the pit of her stomach, creating a nice campfire that relaxed her mind and soothed her anxieties. Another glass and she'd likely be able to take Shepard up on his offer. Her husband's attractiveness was quickly outrunning embarrassment with the alcohol humming through her veins.

She studied him in her periphery, smiling. Broad shoulders filled out the N7 jacket he was wearing quite nicely, and the fitting leather accentuated a trim waist and muscled sides. The white t-shirt underneath hinted at just enough muscle for her to want to pull his shirt off, and the jeans he wore showcased powerful thighs and muscled calves, ending in simple boots.

Looking back up to his face, she appreciatively studied his strong features; jaw covered in light stubble, full lips, a straight, proud nose with a small bump on the bridge, advertising broken cartilage sometime in his past. Add in striking blue eyes and neatly kept short dark hair, and she felt a grin tug at her lips. Maybe the extra drink wasn't needed after all.

"Hey!"

The familiar voiced shattered Tali's amorous thoughts and she felt her shoulders slump. She knew who was speaking to them.

Sure enough, the not-so-stranger quarian jumped up to the barstools beside her, grinning at Tali and Shepard. "I know you two." She huffed and stuck her hand out. "I'm Kara'Leah by the way. Forgot to introduce myself last time."

Tali took it shyly and nodded to the girl. "Nice to meet you."

Kara smiled at her and absently motioned at the bartender for a beer. "I was surprised you guys were still around. Thought you'd be gone by now."

"Just doing some shopping in the area. We'll be here for a few days," Shepard explained, taking another sip of his drink.

Kara must have seen the dark look Tali shot her husband for supplying the information, and she smiled apologetically. "One of the reasons I came over here was to say sorry. I made you pretty uncomfortable in the store and I think I may have also cockblocked your husband," she added, remember Tali's snarled comment.

Tali blinked, a little surprised and feeling suddenly guilty about her rather impolite attitude. "It's alright," she said quickly. "I knew you didn't mean anything bad by it."

Kara nodded, pleased with the response. She rested her chin on her arms on the bar, sighing. "I was just bored and annoyed and wanted someone to talk to. I can't go home since it's under investigation because of that prick who stole half of my crap; apparently he's this serial robber who's broken into a ton of apartments already. Plus the friend I'm staying with keeps wanting to get into my pants." She rolled her eyes. "He's playing the 'Let me comfort you in your time of need' crap, like he expects me to cry on his shoulder while I let him feel me up or something. So I'm stuck walking around out here for a while until he goes to sleep and I can sneak in."

Shepard laughed faintly. "Sounds rough," he said sympathetically, and Tali made a sound of agreement. She was achingly familiar with having no place to go; her Pilgrimage had forced her to find a somewhere to sleep in odd places a lot of the time.

Kara smiled faintly before frowning. "Didn't mean to dump all my problems on the table. Thanks for listening, though." She took a long pull of the drink she now had, coughing afterwards. "Man, that's good."

Her confession of her woes seemed to have smoothed everything over, however; conversation flowed naturally, and she asked all kinds of questions about their life that Tali no longer felt uncomfortable about. The alcohol was likely helping that along, burning down her throat with ease.

The bar was starting to kick people out by the time their chatting came to a halt, and they were all pleasantly drunk by then.

Kara leaned back in her chair, sighing again. "Guess that's my cue. Darius'll probably be passed out by now anyway—I shouldn't have any problems sneaking back in." She stood up a little unsteadily, holding onto the bar'a countertop. "Thanks for the talk. It was a lot of fun."

She moved away from the bar but Tali grabbed her wrist, an idea coming to her inebriated mind. "You can sleep at our place for the night if you're uncomfortable staying at your friend's."

The quarian eyed her, surprised. "W-well—" she shook her head. "No, no, I'll be fine. Thanks but I can't let you guys—"

"It won't be a problem," Shepard interjected. "Besides, you shouldn't be walking home this late at night. Do you even have cab fare?"

The woman's mouth opened for a moment before her shoulders slumped. "No, I don't. It..." She looked at the pair of them. "You're sure it's okay?"

Tali nodded, smiling. "Yes, we're sure. You shouldn't have to put up with pressure right now, and what if you're friend's awake?"

Kara's mouth twisted at the thought. "Yeah... okay," she said finally, smiling. "Thanks a bunch. I totally won't be a problem at all."

* * *

This is part one of either two or three. I'm still working out the exact word count, but this'll be two-three chapters. Hope you enjoyed!


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